The claret and blues were eliminated from the Capital One Cup by League Two Bradford City during the week and Millwall repeated the trick to leave Villa fans with only a relegation battle to look forward to in the rest of the campaign.

Darren Bent opened the scoring for Villa in the 22nd minute of a scrappy fourth-round tie at The Den but Millwall levelled four minutes later when Danny Shittu headed home from a corner.

And John Marquis heaped more pressure on Paul Lambert when he headed home a minute from time as the home fans goaded the Villa boss with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning”.

Lambert made four changes from the side which were humiliated by Bradford in the Capital One Cup semi-final on Tuesday.

Belgium striker Christian Benteke was rested and left out of the squad completely while Barry Bannan, Stephen Ireland and Gabby Agbonlahor all dropped to the bench.

Ashley Westwood returned in midfield after he was cup-tied during the week and there were starting places for Eric Lichaj, Andreas Weimann and Bent.

Both sides struggled to find any early rhythm with chances at a premium until Bent showed his knack of being in the right place at the right time to open the scoring in the 22nd minute.

A powerful run from Weimann on the counter attack culminated in a low shot which was parried by David Forde and dropped for Bent who scuffed his shot which wrong-footed the Millwall keeper.

However, Villa’s vulnerability from set-pieces was exposed again four minutes later when the hosts equalised from a corner.

James Henry delivered a high ball to the far post and Shittu took advantage of indecision in the Villa defence to climb above Lichaj and powerfully head past Shay Given.

The contest continued to lack moments of any real quality although Adam Smith saw Given save a sweetly-struck shot from distance in the 36th minute while Henry put a spectacular effort over the crossbar.

There was little improvement after half-time although the game was temporarily delayed after the Millwall fans threw bottles on the pitch.

Henry found himself in a shooting position in the 63rd minute but was unable to lift the ball over Given from just inside the area.

Villa finally carved out a chance after a long spell of possession when Bannan – who had replaced the injured Fabian Delph just before half-time – unleashed a fierce drive which was parried by Forde but neither Bent nor Weimann could get on the end of it.

However, there was a sting in the tail as Millwall booked their place in the fifth round when Marquis got on the end of Henry’s cross to head against the crossbar, but the striker was alert enough to nod in the rebound.

Comments for: "Millwall 2 Aston Villa 1 - match report"

Andy Lycett

Richard Smith

January 25, 2013 10:05 pm

Humiliating, clueless, hopeless, defeated... What else can be said? Big changes are needed and Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner need to grow some balls and actually speak to the fans to explain what the hell is going on.

All we can see at the moment is our beloved Villa slowly fading into non existence... Proud History No Future

Tony

January 25, 2013 10:05 pm

Stick with it Paul. Hopefully Dunney will be back soon and give us the defensive strength we need. Keep the faith. I can really see the big picture and have confidence it will be worth it in the long run.

James

January 25, 2013 10:05 pm

Lambert and his kinds completely out of their depth, clueless owners and leadership. We'll be down in april mark my words, lerner if you dont want to even turn up for a semi final or invest while the club is in complete freefall you can just leave and we'll get someone who might give a damn.

Phil King

January 25, 2013 10:07 pm

I am pretty sure this is one Lambert was told he could rest players from, in favour of putting every effort into beating Newcastle in the next game this coming Tuesday. I personally think that if we don't beat Newcastle then we are doomed. It is the most important match this season so far. By comparison, losing early in the FA Cup, a competition we are not going to win, is probably the result that gives them the best chance of avoiding relegation.

Villamaddad

January 25, 2013 10:08 pm

Lerner is sitting in the states and as we now know he made over £300million dollars for doing nowt. Were has he been lately? certainly not supporting our club.....The downward spiral started the day MoN left regardless of the ins and outs of what allegedly happened. Current form is an average league one side at best and not good enough. Boycott the next home mastch and make a statement that forces the powers that be to listen...WE ARE NOT AMUSED...

Dave Cartwright

January 25, 2013 10:12 pm

The trouble is we have no organisation and no leaders on the pitch. Shay looks like a frightened rabbit everytime a cross comes in,nobody in midfield or attack seems capable of basic movement. Lambert just sinks into his dugout and hides away looking lost. Experience is needed from top to bottom.

D Brotherton

January 25, 2013 10:26 pm

Its abundantly clear to everyone ( with the exception of the manager ) that this youthful team is not good enough to compete at in the premier league or even the Championshipn for that matter. Villa need to re think their policies on finances and pay structures. I fear that a club that is paying "lower league" wages will only attract lower league players and henceforth a lower league side.

Barry

January 25, 2013 10:29 pm

Enough is Enough Lambert needs to resign, if not the man has no PRIDE to take this game after game he is only in it for the money . Resign man AND SHOW SOME PRIDE you are truly the worst Villa Manger since McNeil.

Learner is like all Americans, stick to what you know, you have lost so much money you will never regain it. Sell up to people who understand the game. Villa Fans we will have to go down to come back because of this stupid egotistical Anerican fool.

Learner is at the same level as Norman Smith in the 60;s

I have accepted relegation and will not go back till Learner/Faulkner and Lambert are long gone and well forgotten..

pindamusa

January 26, 2013 10:18 am

at end of day as they say in bradford we are going down and theres no two ways about it. NO new signings Same players clueless manager who dont forget spent 20 odd million on duff players in the summer. bannan is the worst player i have ever seen what happened to Makoun couldnt have been worse than what we got. WE ARE GOING DOWN

Bobwolf101

DancesWithWolves

January 26, 2013 12:02 pm

It's been a progressive decline since M O'N left. He obviously knew something. It's almost a regional decline with only the Baggies still up there. I hope you stay up and can inspire Wolves to get back in the mix. :Paul Lambert is a fine manager, Wolves would have bitten your hand off for him when McCarthy was sacked a year ago. When the dressing room becomes demoralised, as it did with Wolves, even the best manager will have his work cut out. It is actually not too late for you guys though.